WXXA-TV (channel 23) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, United States, serving the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...
as an affiliate of the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network. It is owned by
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 20 television stations in 17 markets in the United States. The group's Chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2011. All but ...
and operated under a
shared services
Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group, where that service had previously been found, in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and th ...
agreement (SSA) by
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
, owner of
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate
WTEN
WTEN (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is a sister station to Fox affiliate WXXA-TV (channel 23, also licens ...
(channel 10, also licensed to Albany). Both stations share studios on Northern Boulevard in Albany's
Bishop's Gate section, while WXXA-TV's transmitter is located on the
Helderberg Escarpment
The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York, United States, roughly west of the city of Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of the Allegheny Plateau. It rises steepl ...
west of
New Salem.
WXXA-TV is the only commercial television station in Albany that has never changed its primary network affiliation or
call letters
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
.
History
WXXA signed on July 30, 1982 and aired an
analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
signal on
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 23. It was the Capital District's first
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
, as well as the first new
commercial station to launch in the market since WTRI (channel 35), forerunner of
WNYT (channel 13), launched 28 years earlier. The Capital District had a fairly long wait for an independent station, considering its size. On paper, it had been large enough to support an independent since the late 1960s. However, the Capital District is a fairly large market geographically, stretching across a large swath of east-central New York, as well as portions of southwestern
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and western
. Much of this area is very mountainous, particularly in the northern portion. UHF stations have never covered large areas or rugged terrain very well. By the late 1970s, cable and satellite—then as now, a must for acceptable television in much of this market—had gained enough penetration for an independent to be viable.
A
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
had been issued for channel 23 in the 1950s with the calls WPTR-TV; that permit was canceled in 1960. Rumors had previously abounded that
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
would move its programming to the new channel 23 after
WRGB
WRGB (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CW affiliate WCWN (channel 45, also licensed to Sch ...
(channel 6) switched to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
in 1981. However, the network ended up affiliating with WNYT.
The station was owned by Albany TV 23, Inc. a group of investors led by president and
station manager Jim Boaz, Hollywood director
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010)
was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 19 ...
, and former FDIC director
William Seidman
Lewis William Seidman (April 29, 1921 – May 13, 2009) was an United States of America, American economist, finance, financial commentator, and former head of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, best known for his role in helping work ...
. Through Penn, it was able to secure financing from movie production company
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
. WXXA was a typical general-entertainment independent airing
cartoons
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
,
movies
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
,
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
, and first-run syndicated programs. The station also carried
business news
Business journalism is the part of journalism that tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the business, economic and financial activities and changes that take place in societies. Topics widely cover the entire purview of all commercial activi ...
programming from the
Financial News Network
The Financial News Network (FNN) was an American financial and business news television network that was launched November 30, 1981. The purpose of the network was to broadcast programming nationwide, five days a week for seven hours a day on t ...
.
In July 1986, WXXA-TV agreed to become a charter affiliate of Fox,
which launched on October 9.
Initially, WXXA-TV still programmed itself as an independent, since Fox only aired one program (''
The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'') until April 1987 and even then would not present an entire week's worth of programming until the
1993–94 season. Shortly after Fox's launch, Albany TV 23 sold the station to Heritage Broadcasting Group (a Detroit-based company, unrelated to the similarly named
Heritage Communications and
Heritage Media
Heritage Media Corporation (NYSE: HTG) was a media company which owned television and radio stations across the United States, as well as in-store and direct marketing companies. It was based in Dallas, Texas, from 1987 to 1997.
History
Heritage ...
, that was also in the process of acquiring
WWTV
WWTV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Cadillac, Michigan, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan. It is owned by locally based Heritage Broadcasting Group, whi ...
in
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac ( ) is a city in and county seat of Wexford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,371 at the 2020 census, which ranks it the third most-populated city in the Northern Michigan region after Traverse City and Alp ...
) for $10.1 million.
The station picked up programming from the
Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. Fi ...
(PTEN) block in 1993.
In 1994, Heritage sold the station to Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
) for $25.5 million,
predating Clear Channel's sizable expansion of television assets in the
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
in the following years. Clear Channel soon moved WXXA from its original studios on
Central Avenue/
NYS Route 5 in Albany (now a
car dealership
A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...
) to an expanded facility on Corporate Circle in Albany's
Dunes
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
section).
When
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
launched on January 16, 1995, WXXA aired programming from UPN off-hours on weekends.
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
viewers in virtually the entire market were also able to watch UPN in pattern on
WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, which had been available on cable in the area for decades.
WXXA's secondary affiliation ended in 1998, when UPN signed
WYPX (channel 55) as its new secondary affiliate and
low-powered WVBG-LP (channel 25) as a primary affiliate.
The network was picked up again by WXXA after Clear Channel, in partnership with Time Warner Cable, launched cable-only affiliate "
WEDG-TV
WEDG-TV (originally EdgeTV, later UPN4, no relation to the radio station of the same calls in Buffalo or WEDG.TV) was a cable-only UPN affiliate in New York's Capital District which was a joint venture between Time Warner Cable and Fox affiliate ...
" in January 2000.
Eventually known on-air as "UPN 4" after its channel location, "WEDG" signed off in August 2003 concurrent with the sign-on of over-the-air UPN affiliate
WNYA
WNYA (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States, serving New York's Capital District as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting alongside Albany-licensed NBC affiliate WNYT ...
(channel 51), which was operated by WRGB.
WXXA-DT began airing on VHF channel 7 on December 20, 2005. A combination of objections from analog co-channels
WABC-TV
WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...
(in New York City) and
WWNY-TV
WWNY-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Carthage, New York, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Watertown area. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Fox affiliate WNYF-CD (channel 28). B ...
(in
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
), whose signals reach the fringes of the Albany area, was the primary reason for the late and delayed sign-on. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity firm, private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented pri ...
'
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications.
History
In September 2007, Newport ag ...
(the deal closed in March 2008).
On July 19, 2012, Newport Television announced the sale of 22 of its 27 stations to the
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
,
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
and
Cox Media Group
CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...
. While most of WXXA-TV's New York State sisters were sold to Nexstar, that company opted not to buy channel 23; Sinclair could not purchase WXXA-TV because it already owned WRGB and
CW affiliate
WCWN
WCWN (channel 45) is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate WRGB (channel 6, also licensed to ...
(channel 45). While Nexstar and Sinclair passed on buying WXXA, the station eventually found a new owner on July 27, 2012, when Newport Television announced the sale of the station to Shield Media, LLC (owned by
White Knight Broadcasting White Knight Broadcasting is a company based in Lafayette, Louisiana owning three stations, based in Louisiana and Texas. It was founded in 1995 when it purchased then-religious independent station KWLB (now KSHV-TV) in Shreveport, LA.
On April 24, ...
Vice President Sheldon Galloway) for $19.2 million. Shield then entered into certain
shared service agreements with
Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting, LLC was an American media company that owned or operated 12 television stations in 10 markets with a total U.S. television household coverage of 5.9%. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgr ...
, then-owners of WTEN. The FCC granted the transaction on October 23, and it was finalized on December 14. After consummation of the sale, WXXA moved from its Corporate Circle facility into WTEN's studios on March 23, 2013.
On November 8, 2013,
Media General
Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch' ...
shareholders approved the company's merger with New Young Broadcasting, which was completed on November 12.
The merged company kept the Media General name, and continued its agreements with Shield Media. More than two years later, on January 27, 2016, it was announced that the Nexstar Broadcasting Group would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. The operations of WXXA and outright ownership of WTEN became part of "Nexstar Media Group." Upon the sale's closure on January 17, 2017, the deal reunited WXXA with its former Newport sister stations that were sold to Nexstar in 2012.
On August 21, 2020, it was announced that
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 20 television stations in 17 markets in the United States. The group's Chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2011. All but ...
would acquire WXXA.
The acquisition was completed on November 23.
WXXA-DT2
WXXA's second
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
has had a number of affiliations over the years. In January 2007, Clear Channel launched a digital-only network known as
The Variety Channel
Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications.
History
In September 2007, Newport agre ...
. The service aired classic television shows (similar to the
Retro Television Network
Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through th ...
), auto showcase programming and various home improvement programs. The service was shut down on January 5, 2009, with WXXA switching over to Untamed Sports TV. This was followed by a switch on April 15, 2011, to the music video network
TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV was a digital broadcast television network and online music video " jukebox" streaming service owned by Cool Music Network, LLC of Lawrence, Kansas.
History
As a digital broadcast television network
Launched in March 2009, the netw ...
, which was then dropped sometime in 2012 for
ZUUS Country
The Country Network is an American cable, streaming and broadcast television network that specializes in broadcasting country music videos and exclusive original music-based content; its playlist of videos extends from the 1990s through the pres ...
. Finally on January 1, 2015, Shield leased the channel to
Capital District Off-Track Betting for their internally originated network, Capital OTB TV.
Programming
Syndicated programming
Syndicated programming on WXXA includes ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
'', ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'', ''
The Goldbergs'', ''
Judge Judy
''Judge Judy'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judy Sheindlin, Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudi ...
'' and ''
The People's Court
''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality styl ...
'' among others.
News operation
On October 8, 1996, the station established a news department and began airing a nightly half-hour prime time newscast known as ''Fox News at 10''. It was not the time slot's first show in the market, as WMHQ (now
WCWN
WCWN (channel 45) is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate WRGB (channel 6, also licensed to ...
) launched a WNYT-produced broadcast earlier in the year; in 1998, that production was canceled due to a lack of support, leaving WXXA as the only outlet for a prime time show.
Filling a niche in local newscasts, its prime time broadcast was expanded on weeknights to an hour on September 4, 2000, and renamed ''Fox 23 News at 10''. Upon launching the newscast, WXXA was successful in the time slot with high
ratings and viewership, though it struggled in other timeslots competing directly with Albany's
big three stations.
On January 10, 2000, the station took on the area's big three outlets for the first time with the launch of ''Fox 23 News at 6:30''. This show offered a local alternative to the national news broadcasts seen in the time slot. This was followed on March 26, 2001, by another show weeknights at 6 p.m. that directly competed with the other stations.
A change in upper management led to a realignment of early weeknight shows with the 6:30 p.m. broadcast moving to 5 p.m. in September 2002 and an expansion to an hour. ''Fox 23 News at 6'' would eventually be dropped on June 27, 2003, due to low ratings and a re-focus on the success of its flagship 10 p.m. show by putting a significant investment in its news operation beginning in late 2003. The biggest move was the signing of former WNYT news anchor John Gray. Additional resources and capabilities were added to the station behind the scenes as well as on-the-air.
On April 17, 2006, it was announced WNYA would begin airing an hour-long extension of WRGB's weekday morning show from 7 until 8. This action could be seen as a preemptive move by WRGB to fend off a challenge by WXXA, which had announced its own plans to launch a weekday morning newscast two weeks earlier. The actual launch of ''Fox 23 News Mornings'' occurred September 18, 2006, and it initially ran for three hours from 5 until 8. WRGB subsequently moved the sixty-minute extension of its morning show from WNYA to WCWN, and in 2008 began producing a 10 p.m. newscast for that station, giving WXXA its first challenger in the time slot in a decade. WXXA reduced its weekday morning broadcast to a two-hour format (from 6 until 8) in Summer 2009 due to low viewership.
A final addition to newscast offerings on WXXA occurred June 29, 2009, when it launched a half-hour broadcast weeknights at 11 following a national trend by other Fox affiliates. Although ''Fox 23 News at 10'' has remained popular with viewers, its weekday morning show and ''Fox 23 News at 11'' continued to struggle in the ratings against long running newscasts on competing stations. ''Fox 23 News at 5'' (seen on weeknights) was eventually cut to a half-hour for that same reason. In 2012, ''Fox 23 News A.M.'' was moved to the 7 to 9 time slot. WXXA was the last remaining news department in the Capital District that continued to broadcast local news in 4:3 standard definition, and it never upgraded to high definition or 16:9 widescreen during the time that the newscasts were produced in-house.
With the consolidation of WXXA with WTEN, the ABC affiliate took over production of channel 23's newscasts. The two stations' reporting staffs were merged immediately following Shield Media's purchase of WXXA was completed.
On January 24, 2013, WXXA discontinued its weeknight 5:00 and 11:00 p.m. newscasts, in order to focus more on the morning and 10:00 p.m. newscasts; in an announcement on its Facebook page; the station redirected viewers of the canceled newscasts to the WTEN newscasts in those time slots. The weekday morning (7:00-9:00 a.m.) and nightly 10:00 p.m. newscasts, which do not compete against WTEN's newscasts, remain on the station.
On March 23, the consolidation was completed when all newscasts began originating from WTEN's studios produced in high definition. WXXA simulcasts WTEN's weekday morning show from 6:00-7:00 a.m. From 7:00-9:00 a.m., WTEN produces a newscast for WXXA as a local complement to ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''. During
weather forecasts
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
, the station features live
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
NEXRAD
NEXRAD or Nexrad (Next-Generation Radar) is a network of 160 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United ...
weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...
data from four regional sites including one locally on Woodstock Road south of
East Berne.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
WXXA-TV shut down its analog signal, over
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 23, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 7.
Through the use of
PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the A ...
, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 23. During the 2019 digital television repack, WXXA moved from VHF channel 7 to channel 8.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wxxa-Tv
Television channels and stations established in 1982
1982 establishments in New York (state)
XXA-TV
Fox network affiliates
Laff (TV network) affiliates
Bounce TV affiliates
Nexstar Media Group